A Sailing Course For Beginners

112 views | March 11th, 2019 |

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So, you’ve decided you want to learn to sail. Maybe it’s because you love the idea of getting around using nothing but wind power. Or, you know someone who’s just completed their ‘Day Skipper’ and they seem like a whole new person.

Or, maybe someone dragged you along for a day sail on the weekend and now you’ve caught the bug. Whatever your reasons, you want to learn how to sail and you need a course for beginners.

You may have sailed previously and are not sure if the Competent Crew course is for you. If that s the case then this blog is for you.

The ‘RYA Competent Crew Course’ Is The Sailing Course For Beginners

The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) have devised a great system to train people to sail yachts. Their beginner’s course is called the Competent Crew course and is designed to take you from absolutely no experience to being a valuable addition to any crew.

This is achieved by slowly going through everything on the boat, explaining how it all works with plenty of hands-on sailing practice. You’ll be involved in all aspects of crewing the boat whilst you do some exploring, staying in a different location each night.

What’s more this will be taking place at our Southampton base and on the Solent, one of the best classrooms for sailors and if you have passed your RYA courses here then you can charter yachts almost anywhere.

Preparing the ropes

But I’ve Sailed Before! I’m Not A Complete Beginner!!

Yes, the Competent Crew course is a sailing course for beginners. However, it’s also designed to take people who have sailed before and give them a foundation in fundamental sailing principles.

Many a sailor begins their journey on someone else’s yacht, taking instructions from a skipper and they can become quite good at that. However, they may know what to do when told, but they don’t know why or understand how it all works.

Friends/family don’t make good teachers. If they did we’d be out of business. So, the Competent Crew course can also be for people who’ve ‘sailed for years’ but would like to slowly dissect these sailing principles with someone who has the patience and the passion to show them.

All Aboard!

How Does It All Work?

The course is 5 days long. For those with limited time off work available, it can be split over 2 weekends (a 2-day plus a 3-day weekend). You will sleep on board the boat each night with your fellow crew members. Each day you will sail to a new location.

Food is included in the course and there is nothing you need to do before the course to prepare for it. We provide you with ‘oilies’ – that’s old sailor speak for waterproofs – and all the safety gear required, such as life jackets, etc.

And away we go!

What’s Covered?

You will learn what everything’s called on the boat, what it does, and how to use it properly and safely, the fundamentals of sailing and how to ‘live’ on a boat.

All of the safety equipment and emergency procedures will be thoroughly explained. You’ll steer the boat and learn how to keep her on a straight course, while working as a team and learning how to control the power of the wind in the sails. And, you’ll get to go somewhere new every day to explore.